


Chip's Journey-Part I

by SiriGirl



Series: Chip's Journey [1]
Category: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Genre: Anger, Angst, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Grief, Grieving, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, M/M, Multi, Suicidal Thoughts, established relationships - Freeform, parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 10:30:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13545495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiriGirl/pseuds/SiriGirl
Summary: Chip is shot and takes a bad fall during a mission, and Lee takes him for dead. This is not so, but when rescued by a local family he is suffering from amnesia. Part I deals mainly with Chip's rough road to survive and the grief of his nearest and dearest, who think he is dead.





	Chip's Journey-Part I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a labor of love. I've been working on this story since June of 2016, and I still have a lot of work left to do.  
> Now, to some notes on the story:
> 
> Relationships are tagged, but many of the characters have "romantic friendship" relationships. They will kiss and be affectionate with each other.
> 
> Beth O'Brien is an original character created by my awesome sibling anxiousgoddess. She is married to O'Brien and Sparks.
> 
> I gave out first names to some characters and refer to them as such in this work:  
> Eric Patterson  
> Steve Kowalski  
> Randy O'Brien  
> Harlan Jefferson (Sparks)
> 
> Walter and Christy are Lee and Harriman's twin son and daughter.  
> Andrea and Renee are Chip and Eric's two daughters.  
> Michael is Curley and Steve's son.  
> Thomas, Rebecca, Whitney, Denise and Zane are Beth, Randy and Harlan's children.  
> Natalya and Hector are Francis and Stu's children.

Chip Morton shifted uncomfortably in his crouched position. He was cold and wet. Thankfully, the rain had stopped, but a wet mist hung in the air. It was soaking through his clothes and clinging to his hair. He shivered involuntarily. Next to him, his best friend was suffering in solidarity with him as they crouched behind a chimney. Lee Crane had his arms crossed and was lightly bouncing to keep himself warm. The roof was not exactly the place to do it, but they could at least try.

Chip turned up his collar and looked around apprehensively, tightening his grip on his gun. He hated ONI missions, but they were part of his job as executive officer aboard the Seaview, a submarine owned by Lee's husband, Harriman Nelson. The Seaview was in the Naval reserves, and they often did undercover work in addition to the boat's intended purpose, marine research. Lee was the Seaview's captain.

And the two of them had been drafted for today's mission, picking up some papers from an undercover agent named Aaron here on Maatib, and taking them back to Seaview, where Harriman would send the coded contents to the president. Hopefully, Aaron would show up soon. They were almost out of time.

Reaching into his pocket, Chip pulled out a picture that had no place on an ONI mission. He could be identified, and his family hurt if it fell into the wrong hands. But for some reason, he could not make himself leave it back at the sub. He smiled down at the photograph. It was a photo of Chip himself, his husband, Eric Patterson, and their two daughters, Andrea and Renee Morton. They stood on the back deck of their beachfront house. Chip and Eric were kissing, and Andrea and Renee were smiling up at them. The picture had been taken for their Christmas cards the previous year.

Kissing the photograph, Chip tucked it carefully back into his pocket. As he did, he felt Lee nudge him. Knowing what he wanted, Chip held his arm out, showing Lee his watch. "We'll give him two more minutes. If he doesn't show by then, our orders are to head back to Seaview on the double." Lee was whispering.

Chip nodded, looking around apprehensively. Lee followed suit. Chip shivered. "I sure don't wanna stick around here much longer."

Lee patted his arm. "I know what you mean."

Chip turned to stare out into the light fog again, then felt Lee turn him back. His view was suddenly of Lee's dark eyes as he pulled his face towards him and kissed him firmly. He withdrew and stared into Chip's own eyes, face comforting. "It'll be okay, Chip."

"I hope so." Chip kissed Lee, who gladly returned it. They both started and pulled back at the sound of someone walking across the roof behind them. Whipping around, Chip saw a man dressed in a brown cape covering ragged clothes approaching them. His pulse quickening, he quickly turned his gun on the man. "Stop where you are! Who are you?"

The man quickly halted and put his hands in the air. "I am Aaron Okeke. You are Captain Crane and Commander Morton?"

Chip glanced quickly over at Lee, who nodded faintly and they both lowered their weapons. Lee spoke to Aaron. "Yes."

Chip watched the man apprehensively as he stepped over the gap between the roofs and crouched down next to Lee. "I have the papers. The sooner they get to Admiral Nelson the better."

Lee adjusted his position. "I agree."

Aaron removed a manilla envelope from under his cape and handed it to Lee. Chip peered at it in the dim streetlight. "Admiral Harriman Nelson, Top Priority" was written in bold script across the front. "Well, they were certainly discreet about it," he mumbled sarcastically, tucking his gun back into its holster.

Lee looked at the envelope a moment, turning it over in his hands, then handed it to Chip. Chip was confused as to why Lee wanted him to have it, and his eyes must have shown it, as Lee put a hand on his shoulder. "Chip, you carry it. They'll be expecting me to. If anything happens to me, you should be able to get away."

Chip reluctantly took the envelope. As he stuffed it in his jacket, his hand trembled. He did not like the thought of anything happening to Lee. God, he hated ONI work. Taking a deep breath that did nothing to settle his thumping heart, he nodded to Lee. "Right."

Lee sensed his distress and gave him a brief, encouraging smile before turning to Aaron. "What's the fastest way out of here?"

Aaron turned, pointing to the fire escape at the back of the building. The sound of a gunshot cut the air, and Chip nearly leapt out of his skin, grabbing for Lee's hand. Lee clasped it and looked around while they both pulled out their guns. "There's four over here that I can see."

Chip peered at the roof on the other side. "There's at least that many here. Let's get to the ledge." He dropped Lee's hand and nudged him. Lee got down on all fours and crawled towards the edge of the roof. Chip followed closely behind him. Ducking down, they crouched back to back and returned fire in opposite directions. They clasped each other's free hands again, squeezing tightly as they used the roof ledge and the chimney as their shield.

Lee tugged hard on Chip's hand as he took a shot at one of the gunmen. "We're trapped! Chip, can we make it to the fire escape?"

"I don't know, but we'll have to try something." Chip raised his gun to take another shot, but found it was empty. Renewed fear coursed through him as he slammed it against the ledge in disgust. "Empty!"

Lee also tossed his gun in frustration. "Mine, too."

They stared at each other for a moment, frightened and unsure what to do now. Lee took a furtive look around the roof. The next barrage of shots rang out and they both dived to the roof, lying on flat on their stomachs. Lee leaned close to Chip's ear. “Let's try going for the fire escape in separate directions. I'll go to the left, you go to the right.”

Chip nodded. “Alright. I'll try to make it to that barrel, and you go for the other chimney.”

“Right.” Lee patted his shoulder as they both got partially to their feet and ran towards their targets, bent over in hopes of staying out of the line of fire. As the next round of shots rang out, Chip reached the barrel and turned to look at Lee, just in time to see him clutch his chest and fall backwards. Chip's heart froze, then began to pound in his ears as he jumped up instinctively, forgetting where they were. “Lee!”

As he rose, though, he heard shots and felt deep, searing pain in his arm and shoulder. Grabbing his shoulder, he saw stars and began to teeter on the edge of unconsciousness. Everything was getting fuzzy and shaking.

As he struggled to stay aware, he heard the telltale signs that the gunmen were satisfied with a job well done and began to head down to street level. Struggling to see through the haze that seemed to engulf his senses, he tried to stagger towards one of the gunmen. As he did, a sharp pain seared through his back, like nothing he had ever felt before. The fuzziness took over completely, he could no longer see.

Suddenly, he saw his father-in-law walking in the haze, calling to him. “Chip,”

Chip frowned. Derek was dead. Gone for nearly six years now. He couldn't be here now, it didn't make sense. For some strange reason, he was dressed in gray robes. The man was a farmer by birth. He wore flannel and denim almost exclusively.

Chip became more confused as Derek reached a hand out to him. “Chip, my boy, take my hand. Come with me.”

“Where, Dad? Where are we going?” Chip felt like he was falling.

"To someplace nice. Trust me." Derek took his son-in-law's hand and tried to lead him away, but Chip couldn't go with him. Some invisible force was holding him back. The pain got sharper, and he suddenly felt as if he were floating on a bunch of fluffy gray clouds. Derek was gone, Lee was gone, the rooftop and the gunmen were gone. It was just him and the clouds.

Then, quite abruptly, everything went dark.

On the other side of the roof, Lee had opened his eyes to see if he could end his dead act, but the sight that greeted him was one of the most terrifying he had ever seen. Chip was teetering at the edge of the roof, about to fall.

"Chip!" Scrambling to his feet, Lee raced towards his best friend, knowing somewhere deep inside him that he couldn't make it in time. He turned on the jets anyway. "Chip! Chip!"

It was too late. Chip went over the side as Lee raced towards him. Lee's heart sunk so low it felt like it was in his pelvis as shock and horror tore through him. "Chip! No..."

Reaching the side, he fell to his knees to stop his momentum and peered over the edge, not wanting to see what was below.

Below was Chip's body, lying in the alley. He was on his back, blood covering his midsection and pouring out of his nose and down his face.

Tears streamed down Lee's face as he willed the sight below him to be a bad dream. Any minute now, Harriman would gently shake him awake and hold him, kissing away his tears until they stopped. Then he could sneak down the hall to Chip and Eric's cabin and peek through the door, seeing the familiar sight of them sleeping back-to-back on their bunk. Everything would be normal. It would be okay.

But it wasn't a dream. It was too real. Lee couldn't even blink, he just stared in shock as he tried to ignore the roaring in his ears. "Chip...no...Chip..."

He had to check the body. Maybe there was a chance...

Jumping up, Lee ran to the fire escape and took the stairs two at a time as he raced to the ground level. When he reached the ladder and started to climb down onto it, a shot ricocheted off of the post directly beside his head.

Forgoing the ladder, he leaped off of it to the ground and ducked behind a dumpster as more shots rang out from several different directions. He tried to step out, only to have more shots fired at him. Glancing furtively at the alley, he realized he had no chance to recover Chip's body or get the envelope. Best to let his attackers think he already had it.

During a lull in the gunplay, Lee leapt from behind the dumpster and hit the ground running as he rounded the next building. For a while, he was only aware that he was running. The numbness inside him took over as he raced behind a building, across the road and down the hill to the beach. Just the way he and Chip had come in together.

Sprinting across the beach, he found the shrubbery where they had hidden the raft and pulled it out.

Or, rather, he pulled out a mass of deflated rubber. There were several bullet holes in the thing, and it was useless.

Trying to gather himself together, Lee raised a hand to cover his mouth in attempt to cover a sob. Looking around, he saw shadows approaching at the top of the hill. It was his pursuers. He had maybe ten seconds before they started shooting. Lee peered into the distance, picking up the faint outline of Seaview's port side behind the outcropping they were using to hide.

Diving into the water, he swam faster than he ever remembered swimming before, despite his grazed arm. He could only think of two things, getting to Seaview and what he was going to say about Chip. He tried to push his thoughts of Chip out of his mind, but only succeeded in making himself more miserable. He quickly refocused on his task as he made for Seaview and safety.

Back in the alley, Chip was lying twisted and somewhat broken. Blood poured from his wounds and into a dirty drain. Anyone looking would think he was dead. But the weak rise and fall of his chest betrayed a quite different reality.

It seemed incredible, but somehow, some way, Chip had survived.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it enough to look forward to Chapter 2.


End file.
